Cuba vs South Korea
Cuba is 10% larger than South Korea.
CubaSouth KoreaCuba moved onto South Korea · Equal-area projection
1.1×
Cuba is 1.1× the area of South Korea.
 Cuba |  South Korea | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| AreaCuba: 1.1× the area | 109,884 km²#104 of 194 | 100,295 km²#107 of 194 |
| Coastline | Coast, no land border | Has a coast |
| Land neighbours | 0 | 1 |
| People | ||
| PopulationSouth Korea: 4.73× the population | 10,937,203#88 of 194 · 2025 | 51,684,564#29 of 194 · 2025 |
| DensitySouth Korea: 5.18× the density | 100 / km²#89 of 194 | 515 / km²#16 of 194 |
| Urban populationSouth Korea: 1.05× the urban share | 77%#54 of 192 · 2025 | 81%#39 of 192 · 2025 |
| Fertility rateCuba: 1.93× the births per woman | 1.45 per woman#146 of 192 · 2024 | 0.75 per woman#192 of 192 · 2024 |
| Population growthSouth Korea: 0.26 points higher | −0.39%#176 of 192 · 2025 | −0.13%#165 of 192 · 2025 |
| Birth rateCuba: 1.83× the birth rate | 8.6 per 1,000#161 of 192 · 2024 | 4.7 per 1,000#191 of 192 · 2024 |
| Death rateCuba: 1.49× the death rate | 10.4 per 1,000#29 of 192 · 2024 | 7.0 per 1,000#102 of 192 · 2024 |
| Children under 15Cuba: 4.8 points higher | 15.0%#162 of 192 · 2025 | 10.2%#192 of 192 · 2025 |
| People over 65South Korea: 3.3 points higher | 17.0%#46 of 192 · 2025 | 20.3%#30 of 192 · 2025 |
| Net migrationSouth Korea: 3.3 per 1,000 higher | −2.0 per 1,000#144 of 192 · 2025 | +1.3 per 1,000#44 of 192 · 2025 |
| Refugees abroad | 2.69 per 1,000#35 of 190 · 2025 | 0.00 per 1,000#174 of 190 · 2025 |
| Health & education | ||
| Life expectancySouth Korea: 5.3 years longer | 78.3 years#50 of 192 · 2024 | 83.6 years#11 of 192 · 2024 |
| Infant mortalityCuba: 2.96× the infant mortality | 6.8 per 1,000 births#135 of 191 · 2024 | 2.3 per 1,000 births#175 of 191 · 2024 |
| DoctorsCuba: 3.66× the doctors per person | 9.54 per 1,000#1 of 178 · 2021 | 2.61 per 1,000#71 of 178 · 2022 |
| University enrolmentSouth Korea: 2.6× the university enrolment | 43.1%#85 of 145 · 2024 | 111.9%#3 of 145 · 2024 |
| Human Development IndexSouth Korea: 0.175 higher | 0.762#96 of 190 · 2023 | 0.937#19 of 190 · 2023 |
| Economy | ||
| GNI per capita | — | $37,880#29 of 185 · 2025 |
| GDPSouth Korea: 17.4× the economy | $107.35B2020 | $1.87T2025 |
| Income group | Upper-middle income | High income |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | — | $63,125#29 of 184 · 2025 |
| GDP growthSouth Korea: 2.1 points higher | −1.1%#180 of 187 · 2024 | +1.0%#156 of 187 · 2025 |
| Inflation | — | +2.1%#116 of 176 · 2025 |
| UnemploymentSouth Korea: 1.59× the unemployment | 1.7%#164 of 178 · 2025 | 2.7%#149 of 178 · 2025 |
| Extreme poverty | — | 0.1%#126 of 149 · 2021 |
| Income inequality (Gini) | — | 32.9#95 of 149 · 2021 |
| Jobs in agricultureCuba: 10.4 points higher | 15.5% of jobs#91 of 178 · 2025 | 5.1% of jobs#130 of 178 · 2025 |
| Jobs in industrySouth Korea: 6.5 points higher | 16.9% of jobs#115 of 178 · 2025 | 23.4% of jobs#51 of 178 · 2025 |
| Jobs in servicesSouth Korea: 3.9 points higher | 67.6% of jobs#62 of 178 · 2025 | 71.5% of jobs#46 of 178 · 2025 |
| Foreign investmentSouth Korea: 0.8 points higher | 0.0% of GDP#162 of 184 · 2020 | 0.8% of GDP#137 of 184 · 2025 |
| ExportsSouth Korea: 3.3 points higher | 42.5% of GDP#61 of 168 · 2024 | 45.8% of GDP#54 of 168 · 2025 |
| Military spending | — | 2.6% of GDP#38 of 155 · 2025 |
| Internet usersSouth Korea: 1.39× the share online | 71%#117 of 184 · 2024 | 98%#13 of 184 · 2024 |
| Mobile subscriptionsSouth Korea: 2.37× the mobile subscriptions | 73 per 100#155 of 191 · 2024 | 173 per 100#13 of 191 · 2024 |
| Energy & environment | ||
| Forest areaSouth Korea: 1.85× the forest share | 35% of land#84 of 192 · 2024 | 64% of land#19 of 192 · 2024 |
| CO₂ per personSouth Korea: 5.95× the CO₂ per person | 1.91 t a year#104 of 185 · 2024 | 11.4 t a year#15 of 185 · 2024 |
| Renewable energyCuba: 17.3 points higher | 20.9%#103 of 190 · 2021 | 3.6%#161 of 190 · 2021 |
| Access to electricityThe same | 100.0%#1 of 192 · 2024 | 100.0%#1 of 192 · 2024 |
| Air pollution (PM2.5)South Korea: 2.33× the air pollution | 9.4 µg/m³#158 of 191 · 2023 | 21.9 µg/m³#71 of 191 · 2023 |
| Protected landSouth Korea: 2.1 points higher | 15.6% of land#111 of 191 · 2025 | 17.7% of land#95 of 191 · 2025 |
| Arable landCuba: 14.7 points higher | 28.0% of land#34 of 190 · 2024 | 13.3% of land#78 of 190 · 2024 |
| Water stressSouth Korea: 3.56× the water stress | 23.9%#62 of 176 · 2022 | 85.2%#21 of 176 · 2022 |
| PrecipitationCuba: 1.05× the rain and snow | 1,335 mm#68 of 180 · 2022 | 1,274 mm#71 of 180 · 2022 |
| Governance & safety | ||
| Political stabilitySouth Korea: 0.61 higher | +0.31#79 of 193 · 2025 | +0.92#42 of 193 · 2025 |
| Control of corruptionSouth Korea: 1.65 higher | −0.73#135 of 193 · 2025 | +0.92#36 of 193 · 2025 |
| Homicide rateCuba: 9.0× the homicide rate | 4.5 per 100,000#51 of 146 · 2019 | 0.5 per 100,000#137 of 146 · 2023 |
| State | ||
| Status | Independent state | Independent state |
| Government | One-party statecommunist state | Presidential republic |
| Member of | — | OECD, G20 |
| Capital | Havana | Seoul |
| Currency | Cuban peso (CUP) | South Korean won (KRW) |
| Official languages | Spanish | Korean, Korean Sign Language |
| Traffic drives | On the right | On the right |
| Time zone | UTC−5, summer time UTC−4 | UTC+9 |
| Calling code | +53 | +82 |
| Region | Caribbean, North America | Eastern Asia, Asia |
Area: Wikidata. Population, income, health, economy, environment and governance: World Bank. Human Development Index: UNDP. Government: CIA World Factbook. Ranks among the 194 independent states. All sources
Why the map you grew up with disagrees
On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Cuba sits at about 22° N and is stretched to 1.16× its true area; South Korea at 36° N is stretched to 1.54×. Here the two are distorted about the same amount, so Mercator gets this pair roughly right. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Questions about this pair
- Is Cuba bigger than South Korea?
- Yes. Cuba is 10% larger than South Korea. Cuba covers 109,884 km² and South Korea covers 100,295 km².
- How many times does South Korea fit into Cuba?
- About 1.1 times: Cuba has 1.1× the area of South Korea.
- Why do Cuba and South Korea look different on Google Maps?
- Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Cuba is drawn about 1.16× its true area there and South Korea about 1.54×. For this pair the distortion is similar, so Mercator gets the comparison roughly right. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
- Which has more people, Cuba or South Korea?
- South Korea: 51,684,564 people against 10,937,203. Density: Cuba 100 per km², South Korea 515 per km².
- Where do people live longer, Cuba or South Korea?
- In South Korea: life expectancy at birth is 83.6 years, against 78.3 — 5.3 years longer (World Bank, 2024).
- What kind of government do Cuba and South Korea have?
- By constitution, as the CIA World Factbook describes them — Cuba: one-party state; South Korea: presidential republic.